~Kurt Vonnegut
Happy Poetry Friday! A bunch of Kurt Vonnegut's comments about the arts resonate with me. In the video at the bottom of this post, Ian McKellen is quoting Vonnegut (set to music by French Fuse).
Summer Poem Swap info! Do you want to send and receive a poem (or five) this summer? Sign up for the Summer Poem Swap! The number of swaps is up to you. You don't need to send anything but a poem, although some folks send additional stuff. You can send it via email or snail mail. If you would like to receive a poem but you don't think you have it in you to send a poem, contact me anyway. We have folks who are happy to send extras.
You are welcome to mail them early, e.g. if you know you will be gone during Swap #4, you can mail #4 at the same time that you mail #3. The deadline to sign up is May 17th, so send me your name, mailing address, email address, and anything else I should know by then. I will send out swap match-ups as soon as I have them ready.
1st swap: June 14-28
2nd swap: June 28-July 12
3rd swap: July 12-July 26
4th swap: July 26-August 9
5th swap: August 9-23
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I went to see Hadestown last weekend so I've been kind of obsessed with listening to it again this week. It's a retelling of the Orpheus/Eurydice story. (Orpheus tries to bring Eurydice out of the Underworld but Hades has one caveat: Orpheus can't look back.)
I've been thinking about various aspects of the story this week, such as -- if Orpheus, talented as he is, can't provide for his love, who can make a living in the arts? He sings a beautiful song about how nature will give them the supplies for their wedding. Nature is great, but sometimes it's cold and you need assistance. Maybe it's because I'm worried about how little our culture cares for the arts that this point stuck out for me.
I'm going to share a song that seems like a poem for multiple voices. The irony, to me, is that Eurydice is in the Underworld because she was poor. What is the enemy?
(The person who wrote the music, Anaïs Mitchell, is playing guitar. *bows respectfully*)
More music because that's how I'm rolling today:
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A Word Edgewise has the Poetry Friday round-up. Thanks, Linda!